Folding table



. Aug. 31, 1937. u. K. JOHANNSEN 2,091,946

FOLDING TABLE Filed June 5, 193a 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. JB/mms z-w ATTORNEY.

-Aug. 31, 1937. u. K. JOHANNSEN FOLDING TABLE Filed June 5, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 31, 1937 i UNHTEEL STATES FOLDING TABLE TUdo K. Johannsen,

lihe Brewer-Titchener Cortland, N. Y., assignor to Corporation, Cortland,

8 Claims.

My invention broadly relates to portable folding tables, and is more particularly concerned with a collapsible ironing board stand of the three-legged, metal chassis type in which the legs are adapted to compactly fold flatwise underneath one face of such board when not extended for use.

A pair of complementary rear legs have one end thereof directly pivoted under the top board and a single rigid front leg is similarly attached in a forwardly fixed spaced relationship to the rear leg pivots. All my rectilinear legs are positively actuated in unison between their respective erected and collapsible positions by the use of a novel actuating gear. Such controlled leg movement is herein brought about by mated guide rods that pivotally interconnect the several rear legs with one end of a manipulative equalizing bar or the like balanced lever means pivotally mounted on said front leg.

In addition, I provide for cooperating locking rods that function in a novel manner in that one rod terminal is pivotally secured adjacent to the under side of the table board in the vicinity of a rear leg pivot and the other rod terminal is pivoted to the opposite end of said equalizing bar. The arms of such beam lever are kept comparatively short relative to the respective rod lengths attached thereto with the arms arranged to selectively swing about said lever pivot between locked and released position. When released, the table legs are free to collapse, but when in locked erected chassis position, my leg supported board is rendered inherently rigid while having a heavy downward ironing pressure imposed thereon.

The cross-sectional profile of each such one piece metal table leg is preferably given a channel-like formation to combine ample lateral stiffness with low chassis weight that shall not prove burdensome to women when carried to or from a storage closet.

The object of the present invention is to provide for a sturdy, foldable understructure of the character indicated and one possessing comparatively few essential pivotal points that are not likely to become rickety from wear after extended use or allow the superstructure to sway abnormally under its anticipated loading. My table improvements are especially adapted for rapid production on an extensive scale at a low fabrication cost. I

Reference is had to the accompanying two sheets of drawings which are illustrative of a certain preferred exemplification, and. in which drawings:

Fig. 1 represents an elevational front end view of an erected ironing board assembly equipped with my devices, and Fig. 2 is a side view thereof.

Figs. 2A and 23 respectively show certain modified pintle dispositions.

Figs. 3 and 4 respectively depict a side and a bottom view of my chassis when fully collapsed.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail of my manipulative equalizing bar shown in Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 is an end view thereof.

Figs. '7 and 8 fragmentally illustrate difierent views of a semitubular tie rod as fabricated from strip stock.

Fig. 9 details a rear Fig. 10 is a sectional View along line Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 shows the floor contacting end of a rear legprovided with a rubber cushioning agency.

Referring more specifically to these drawings, the numerals it and pair of legs that may be made up into relatively thin, reversely mounted angle iron lengths. A flanged sheet metal bracket plate 12 is afiixed crosswise at the rear end region of the table top or board 13. The bracket is shown flanged to pro- 1 vide for relatively inclined ends that are respectivelyapertured to mount a pair of obliquely disposed rear leg pintles M and I5, as detailed in Figs. 9 and 10. In the intersecting region of the respective pintle axes marked D, there is mounted a pair of upstanding strap ears 5A and 56B to which the complementary, axially twisted brace straps H are pivotally secured. As will be more explicitly pointed out presently, the described structure is preferably of a type in which the rear legs are automatically spread apart into the Fig. 1 position when the chassis is unfolded.

My front leg I8 is also of the rigid rectilinear type preferably rolled or stamped up from sheet metal into a cross-sectionally channeled profile including companion flanges such as I9 or the like (see Figs. 5 and 6) that extend continuously throughout the leg length. The upper front leg end may be transversely reenforced and pivoted at 20 to the board by a lug strap 2i located forwardly of the rear leg pintles in fixed spaced relationship. Said strap is provided with a pair of pintle ears that are adequately separated to impart lateral rigidity to such single leg. Each floor contacting terminal of these several table legs may be equipped with suitable shoe means as in Fig. 11.

The actuating gear whereby both the rear leg structure and said front leg are made to fold or leg mounting bracket, and A-B of H respectively designate a unfold in unison about their respective board pivots will now be defined. To this end, I resort to a pair of links or guide rods 23 which are herein used in combination with one or more 5 companion links or looking rods 24.

In the present linkage, the respective leg actuating rods 23 and 24 may be disposed symmetrically about the longitudinal center line of the top board in the Fig. 1 manner. Intermediate the pivoted and floor contacting ends of the front leg l8, a trunnionlike beam lever pintle or mounting pivot 25 extends through both aligned flanges IQ of said leg. Fixedly mounted on each overhanging end of this lever pivot by dowel means such as 26, is an equalizing bar or the like flat beam lever such as 2'! or 28 which rocks in unison about said mounting pivot into and out of axial alignment with the front leg.

Corresponding ends of such mated equalizing bars are respectively provided with an outwardly overhanging rivet pin, the pintle 29 serving as a pivot for the forward end of a guide rod 23 and the pintle 30 acting in a like capacity for the locking rod 24. The respective ends of one such equalizing bar may be extended into a manipulative grip or handle such as 3IA or 3|B, while one end of the other bar may be provided with a stop lug 32 that abuts the stop pin 33 when the mated bars assume axial alignment with the front leg as shown by full lines in Fig. 5. By manipulating one of the grips 3IA or 3IB, said bars may be conveniently turned in unison about their Y common pivot 25 toward their dotted position so as to finally become reversed when the chassis is brought into its collapsed Fig. 3 position. The respective paths taken by certain of these pivots in reaching the latter position, are indicated in Fig. 2 by dotted and dashed lines.

The rear end of each guide rod 23 is attached to an intermediate pivot 34 located between the respective rear leg terminals. The rear end of a locking rod 24 is preferably pivoted to the rear leg pintle l5, as shown in Fig. 2. Since the precise hookup location of said pintle with respect to the board is immaterial, said locking rod may also as an equivalent, be pivotally attached by a separate bracket l5 (see Fig. 2A) or to the rear leg at l5" (see Fig. 2B) provided such alternative pivots are disposed closely contiguous to said pivot l5 and the respective locking rods 24' or 24" is given a corresponding length. All such mounting variations serving to produce the same result, are intended to be embraced in the claim definition pivotally connected to the board adjacent to the rear leg pintle location.

By gripping the rearwardly directed handle portion MB of the collapsed Fig. 3 chassis, this handle when drawn away from the board face, will cause the front leg l8 together with the rear leg structure to unfold in unison from a centralized control point. The free swinging ends of the rear legs Ill and l I will then be automatically spread apart as in Fig. 1. When the respective legs stand on a floor in operative erected position, any downward ironing pressure exerted on the board will tension the guide rod 23 and thereby draw the handle 3IA toward the front leg. A spring latch pin such as 35 of Figs. 5 and 6, may be resorted to as a supplementary front leg retaining means by which to facilitate setting up the chassis prior to resting the unfolded legs thereof upon the fioor. After releasing said latch, one of the handles may be freely manipulated to bring the chassis into its collapsed position.

All my legs being of the non-sectional type devoid of togglelike joints intermediate the length thereof, such erected board continues to stand in a stable condition after the leg end pintles have suffered substantial wear. In unfolded leg position, the guide rod 255 becomes crossed with respect to the locking rod 24 as in Fig. 2 while in collapsed leg position, these same rods lie in substantial parallelism alongside the bottom board face as in Fig. 4.

It now remains to point out certain structural aspects in further detail. While the guide rod 23 and its mated locking rod 24 may be fabricated from solid rod stock, it is preferred for the sake of lightness and cost reduction, to form the same from relatively thin sheet metal strip stock into a cross-sectionally channel or the like semitubular shape represented in Figs. 7 and 8. A strip of such stock may be folded longitudinally into the U formation 36 and out to proper length, whereupon the stub ends may in one operation be flattened as at 3'! and apertured at 38 to constitute pintle receiving bearings. Such sheet metal tie rods are not only relatively light in weight but are rendered laterally stiff for the purpose intended.

As a further refinement, attention is directed to the stamped rear leg bracket structure as detailed in Figs. 9 and 10. The elongated sheet metal bracket plate l2 has the reversely inclined ends 4% and iii thereof upturned in divergent direotions to bring about an automatic rear leg spread. The rear longitudinal edge of said plate is also upturned at and preferably formed integral with said plate ends to constitute a reenforcing tie flange #32 therebetween serving to laterally stiffen the plate I 72 and thereby hold the rear legs I!) and i2 against the undue spread. The center region of said flange is extended and laterally ofiset to afford an eyelet lug by which the collapsed board may be conveniently suspended from a closet hook for storage purposes. The opposite longitudinal plate edge may be sheared with an indentation i l so as to furnish the required material without stock wastage, from which to shape up said lug in the next adjacent blank.

A pair of pronglike ears WA and I tB may partially be pierced out of the plate stock and have the side faces thereof arranged to diverge in parallelism with the respective plate ends as shown. The upturned root of each ear is dished into a lateral prop or bumped reenforcement as at 55. Each such ear is apertured for the reception of a brace strap pivot 36. The respective plate ends ill and ii are likewise apertured to receive rear leg pintles M and i5 that are respectively placed in axial alignment with its mated strap pivot 45 along the intersecting center lines 0-D and D-E as in Fig. 10, said strap pivots being medially disposed and raised substantially with respect to the level of the outermost leg pintle ends. As seen in Fig. 9, the axes of all four of such pivots fall into a common plane along the center line A-B, the pintle disposition being such that the spread rear legs of Fig. 1 will collapse within the marginal edges of the board as in Fig. all without requiring the use of any loose pivots, cams or the like extraneous compensating de vices. When folded, the rear leg flanges will be slightly cooked in alignment with the inclination given to the plate ends 415 and ll. 7

Fig. 11 discloses a simple design for cushioning the floor contacting extremity of my angle iron rear legs such as II. For this purpose the lower terminal region of one such leg flange may be cut away as shown toclear for a cylindrical cushioning agency 50 of rubber or the like. A rive-t 5| may be entered axially through said agency and the other leg flangeto fixedly mount the rubber in place. Such leg trim snugly grips the floor and obviates tendency of 'the rear legs to spread further apart'under a heavyload.

In my foldab-le table, all parts are kept comparatively light in weight but still afford adequate strength under arduous service conditions. The balanced hookup ofmy chassis is so arranged that-one'instead of two sets of brace and locking rods may sufiice to bring about the desired leg movement; Other advantages inherent in my all metal chassis Y are .believed apparent to those skilled in this art, it being obvious that the same underlying structural principles may be utilized in associations other than for ironing board stands, and that various modifications in design may readily be resorted to in likewise carrying out the illustrative embodiments, all without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention heretofore described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A collapsible table or the like adapted to unfold into erected position, said table comprising a top board, a rear leg structure pivoted directly to the bottom face of said board, a rigid front le having one end pivoted directly to said board, an intermediate pivot disposed between the respective ends of the rear leg structure, an equalizing bar pivotally mounted between its ends upon the front leg, guide rod means pivotally interconnecting one end region of said bar with the intermediate pivot, and locking rod means pivotally interconnecting the other bar end region with the board, said rod means together with the bar serving as a manipulative linkage by which to fold or unfold thefront and rear leg structure in unison.

2. A collapsible table or the like adapted to unfold into erected position, said table compris- 5 ing a top board, complementary rear legs pivoted directly to the bottom face of said board, a rigid front leg having one end pivoted directly to said board in a forwardly spaced relation to a rear leg pivot, intermediate pivot means disposed between the respective ends of each rear leg, a manipulative equalizing bar pivotally mounted between its ends upon said front leg, guide rod means pivotally interconnecting one end of said bar with the intermediate pivot means, and locking rod means pivotally interconnecting the other bar end with the board adjacent to a rear leg pivot location, the guide and locking rod means being so arranged and of such proportions as to substantially align the bar with said front leg in either its collapsed or erected positions.

3. A collapsible table or the like adapted to unfold into erected position, said table comprising a top board, complementary rear legs pivoted directly to the bottom face of said board, a rigid front leg having one end pivoted directly to said board in a forwardly spaced relation to a rear leg pivot, an intermediate pivot disposed between the respective ends of each rear leg, a pivot carried intermediate the front leg ends and extending transversely through thefront leg to provide for oppositely overhanging pintle terminals, a pair of axially aligned equalizing bars respectively mounted intermediate their ends and fixedly secured to the respective pintle terminals in substantial axial alignment, guide rod means pivotally interconnecting corresponding bar ends with said intermediate rear leg pivots, and looking rod means pivotally interconnecting the opposite bar ends with the board adjacent to the rear leg pivot location.

4. A collapsible table or the like adapted to unfold into erected position, said table comprising a top board, complementary rear legs each provided with pintles carried by the bottom face of said board, an intermediate pivot disposed between the respective ends of each rear leg, a rigid front leg having one end pivoted directly to the board in a forwardly spaced relationship to said rear leg pintles, an equalizing bar pivotally mounted between its ends upon said front leg, guide rod means pivotally interconnecting one end'of the bar with said intermediate pivots, and locking rod means pivotally interconnecting the other bar end with the board adjacent to the rear leg pintle location, said bar and rods being so constructed and arranged as to serve as a centralized control to shift the several legs in unison from collapsed into erected position.

5. A collapsible table or the like adapted to un fold into erected position, said table comprising a top board, a rear leg structure pivoted directly to the bottom face of said board, a rigid front leg having one end pivoted directly to said board in a forwardly spaced relationship to said rear leg structure, an intermediate pivot disposed between the respective ends of the rear leg structure, an equalizer bar pivotally mounted between its ends upon said front leg and which bar is prosaid intermediate pivot, and locking rod means 1 pivotally interconnecting the other bar end with the board, said handle serving to shift the several legs in unison and being reversely directed with respect to the pivotal mounting of said bar in collapsed table position from the direction assumed in erected table position.

6. A collapsible table adapted to unfold into erected position, said table comprising a top board, a rear leg structure pivoted directly to the bottom face of said board, a rigid front leg having one end pivoted directly to said board in a forwardly spaced relationship to said rear leg structure, an intermediate pivot disposed between the respective ends of the rear leg structure, a manip ulative equalizing bar pivotally mounted between its ends upon the front leg, guide rod means pivotally interconnecting one end of the bar with said intermediate pivot, locking rod means pivotally interconnecting the other bar end with the board, and stop means retaining the bar against in said plane at a level that is located outwardly from said plate with respect to the location of said apertures, a pair of upstanding ears mounted upon said plate between the inclined ends thereof and respectively disposed to straddle the aforesaid intersection, each of said ears having an aperture therethrough serving to snugly mount a strap pintle and which strap pintles respectively align axially with one of the aforesaid inwardly projected axes, a separate leg pivoted to each rear leg pintle, and a brace strap for each such leg with one brace strap end fixedly attached to the leg thereof and the other brace strap end arranged to snugly engage a contiguous strap pin- 10 tie, the free ends of said legs when swung about therethrough whose center lines fall into a common plane and which ends are laterally reenforced by a tie flange, a rear leg pintle entered through each such aperture and the respective pintle axes when projected inwardly intersect in said plane, a pair of upstanding ears formed integral with the plate and disposed in substantial parallelism with the respective inclined plate ends, each of said ears having an aperture serving to snugly mount a strap pintle therethrough and which strap pintles respectively align axiall with one of the aforesaid inwardly projected axes, a separate leg pivoted to each rear leg pintle, and a brace strap for each such leg with one brace strap end fixedly attached to the leg thereof and the other brace strap end arranged to snugly engage a contiguous strap pintle.

UDO K. JOHANNSEN. 

